This invention relates generally to automobile door hinges and, more particularly, to a three-piece lift-off door hinge assembly and mounting arrangement incorporating an integral door-half hinge plate to body-half hinge plate interlocking arrangement upon the application of an exterior impact load on the body.
It is well-known in the automotive industry to form a three piece separable door hinge. An example of one such hinge is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,864,687 issued Sep. 12, 1989 to Calcaterra et al. entitled Three Piece Door Hinge which enables a vehicle door to be readily removed and rehung during an assembly line operation.
The U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,331 issued Feb. 28, 1989 to Calucci entitled Door Lift-Off Hinge discloses another three piece door hinge assembly which provides self-alignment reception of the pintle pin within a leaf hinge pintle hole of the door-half member.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,054,165 issued Oct. 1991 to Marchione entitled Door On-Door Off Vehicle Hinge With Hold-Open Mechanism concerns still another three piece separable hinge which includes a noise-free hold-open mechanism that remains in its entirety with the vehicle body when the door is removed.